Cherry-picking politicians need fact-checkers

Published 3:35 am, Monday, February 25, 2013

A couple of weeks ago, President Obama gave his annual State of the Union speech. I chose not to watch it.

The Westminster Dog Show was on one of the cable channels and I figured it would be much more interesting than the usual dog and pony show our politicians provide.

The next day, all of the major media outlets had coverage of the president’s speech, and some of his remarks. After reading the stories, some things did not sound right to me. So, I checked them out. It seems our president did a little editing of facts. Cherry-picking, as it is called, to make his points.

He claims to have created over six million new jobs since the recession.

Not really. He does not start his count when he took office. He starts from when job losses were at the high point in his first term. This allows him to ignore the five million or more jobs that were lost prior to that time.

Since February 2010 the private sector has added about 6.1 million jobs, but since he took office we have gained only about 1.9 million. Add in the losses to the public sector and the gain is only about 1.3 million.

His claim that we have doubled the gas mileage on cars is, at best, bogus.

While it is true that the administration has reached a deal with auto makers to have an average 54.5 mpg by 2025, changes will not start until 2017. Even then, that will not be double the mileage that some cars already get.

He claims that the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, has already help lower the growing cost of healthcare.

Maybe. Increases have eased a bit but, there are many experts that claim that is because of the sluggish economy, not the healthcare law, because the main provisions have not taken effect yet.

On illegal immigrants gaining a path to citizenship, he wants measures that include passing a background check, learning English, paying back taxes and a penalty and going to the back of the line behind those who are trying to come here legally.

This is not a fair proposition to those that are still in their native country, waiting to come here. Why? Because the illegals will still be free to move around and work in the United States for much better wages than those that are waiting for legal citizenship in this country.

He wants to expand the Head Start program with more funds from the government. He claims that studies show the earlier a child starts learning, the better they do down the road.

He also claims that every dollar spent now on low-income and at-risk children saves $7 later on because of better graduation rates, reduced teen pregnancy and reducing violent crime. Where did he get his statistics?

There are dozens of studies that show Head Start graduates are more likely to finish high school but the vocabulary and social development gain, for students in pre-kindergarten fade by the time they reach third grade.

Mr. Obama is not the first or the only politician to pick and chose facts, included or omitted, in their speeches. He surely will not be the last. They all, regardless of their party, take the liberty of cherry-picking.

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Remember this the next time you hear one of them give a speech. Don’t take what they say as fact. Do some research and get the real story.